(MENAFN) Emirates airline and Qantas cooperation has been initially approved by Australian authorities to be prolonged for another five years.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) have granted the airlines a draft determination, offering to authorize their partnership to go on for extra five years, with the final result to be declared in March.

StrategicAero Research's chief analyst Saj Ahmad has argued that the market has seen more suitable and competitive prices, as Emirates airline, for instance, offering affordable prices but sometimes demand further payment for better seats.

"Either way, customers have far more choice connecting via Emirates and Qantas between the northern and southern hemisphere compared to any other airline or grouping. And prices reflect that competitive edge," the chief analyst suggested.